Meridian Investment Counsel Inc. Increases Stock Position in General Electric (NYSE:GE)

Meridian Investment Counsel Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of General Electric (NYSE:GE) by 3.8% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 12,175 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after buying an additional 442 shares during the period. Meridian Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in General Electric were worth $2,296,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Studio Investment Management LLC raised its position in General Electric by 97.5% in the second quarter. Studio Investment Management LLC now owns 158 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 78 shares in the last quarter. Toth Financial Advisory Corp purchased a new position in shares of General Electric in the 3rd quarter valued at about $25,000. Valley Wealth Managers Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of General Electric in the third quarter valued at about $25,000. O Brien Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new stake in General Electric during the third quarter worth about $27,000. Finally, MFA Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in General Electric during the second quarter worth about $31,000. 74.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

GE has been the subject of a number of research reports. Bank of America lifted their price target on shares of General Electric from $180.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. UBS Group boosted their target price on General Electric from $223.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price target on General Electric from $210.00 to $200.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Melius Research boosted their price objective on shares of General Electric from $194.00 to $202.00 in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of General Electric from $205.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $200.93.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other General Electric news, SVP Riccardo Procacci sold 7,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $181.13, for a total transaction of $1,267,910.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 13,289 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,407,036.57. The trade was a 34.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.66% of the company’s stock.

General Electric Stock Down 0.8 %

GE stock opened at $176.89 on Friday. General Electric has a one year low of $93.05 and a one year high of $194.80. The stock has a market capitalization of $191.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.09, a PEG ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 1.19. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $182.29 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $170.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 1.13.

General Electric (NYSE:GE) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 22nd. The conglomerate reported $1.15 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.13 by $0.02. General Electric had a return on equity of 18.93% and a net margin of 11.48%. The business had revenue of $9.84 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.02 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.82 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that General Electric will post 4.22 EPS for the current year.

General Electric Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 25th. Investors of record on Thursday, September 26th were given a $0.28 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, September 26th. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.63%. General Electric’s dividend payout ratio is presently 19.68%.

About General Electric

General Electric Company, doing business as GE Aerospace, designs and produces commercial and defense aircraft engines, integrated engine components, electric power, and mechanical aircraft systems. It also offers aftermarket services to support its products. The company operates in the United States, Europe, China, Asia, the Americas, the Middle East, and Africa.